I've been covering the video game space for 20 years for outlets like The Washington Post, Reuters, CNET, AOL, Wired Magazine, Yahoo!, Entertainment Weekly, NBC, Variety, Maxim, EGM, and ESPN. I serve as EIC of GamerHub.tv and co-founder of GamerHub Content Network, a video game and technology video syndication network that works with Tribune and DBG to syndicate game videos and editorial around the world. I also cover games for outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Geek Monthly, CNN, DigitalTrends and PrimaGames.

Iron Man 3 Soars Past $680 Million In Box Office With Only Mobile Game Tie-In

Before Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, Sega had released console and PC games based on the first two Iron Man movies. With Iron Man 3 blowing away box office records (over $175.3 million domestic for a total of $680.1 million worldwide) in under two weeks, there’s only a free mobile game from Gameloft for gamers.

Disney has failed to capitalize on Marvel video games in the console space, sitting out Marvel’s The Avengers last summer (Ubisoft had a non-movie Avengers: Battle for Earth comic-based game out last fall for Xbox 360 Kinect and Wii U). Disney has had success with the free-to-play FacebookFacebook game, Marvel Avengers Alliance from Playdom, and there’s always the potential for an Avengers game tied into the upcoming Avengers 2 movie.

But it seems there are missed opportunities with Marvel video games. The Iron Man games got better from the first to the second, although the games tanked critically with a 45 aggregate reviewers score on Xbox 360 from Metacritic.com. The concept of flying around as a virtual Tony Stark has great potential, and there was plenty of time between Iron Man 2 and 3 to at least try to develop a solid game. Actors like Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow even got involved, providing their likenesses. And Sega did add new villains to the mix to expand beyond the movie storylines.

Gamers instead got a free Iron Man 3 mobile game from Gameloft for AppleApple iOS devices like iPhone and iPad and Android smartphones, which garnered a 58 on Metacritic. The “endless runner” flying game serves as a virtual sequel to Iron Man 3, allowing gamers to upgrade to 18 different types of suits as they fly through locales like Malibu, New York City and China. It’s a fun “swipe” game, but lacks the depth of what could have been in the console space had Disney, Sega or someone moved forward with a game.

I look at what High Moon Studios is doing with Activision’s upcoming Deadpool game (minus any movie tie-in – although Disney/Marvel NEEDS to give this guy his own movie franchise) and I see that there’s definitely potential. Activision has also done great things ever since it took on the “great responsibility” of the Spider-Man franchise. Disney should license Activision the Iron Man and/or Avengers franchise if they don’t want to develop games themselves.

Iron Man fans – and there are a lot of them given the new movie had better openings than The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) – certainly are out there all around the world. And given Iron Man’s driving force in The Avengers, that movie’s success can also be attributed to Downey’s Stark (it opened with $207.4 million over the same weekend last year and fought its way to $1.5 billion in global box office).

There are some Iron Man tie-ins to upcoming games. Disney has launched a new Spec Ops mission for Playdom’s Marvel: Avengers Alliance Facebook game. Gamers will be able to battle Eric Savin and comic-inspired villains like Titanium Man and Blizzard. Once they beat this new mission, they’ll unlock Pepper Potts in her Rescue armor. The game also features Mark 42 armor for Iron Man and Iron Patriot armor for War Machine.

Gazillion Entertainment’s free-to-play MMO, Marvel Heroes, will feature a playable Iron Man who can fly through the game world (although flight is a somewhat limited capability within this multiplayer game). Players can choose to play as Iron Man and the other Marvel super heroes in what’s sure to be a popular PC game when it’s released.

Tony Stark and his suit will also appear in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game from TT Games. The game, which can be seen below, debuted at GDC 2013 and showcases the latest technology that brings Iron Man and the rest of The Avengers to life with tongue-in-cheek humor that only LEGO can provide. The cross-platform game also employs voice acting to complement the addictive gameplay and huge cast of characters.

With Downey’s future as Tony Stark currently a question mark (the actor’s contract is up and he’s been mum on whether he’ll be returning as Iron Man), Disney has more to worry about than video game tie-ins. They need Downey back, big time. And he’s worth whatever his agent is asking.

There’s some time out there to develop a proper Iron Man game before the next movie, which would follow The Avengers 2. Let’s hope Disney tackles this franchise or licenses it to a good publisher so we can get a decent game. In the meantime, that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game is coming this summer and it’s sure to give fans something fun to play with.

It’s also worth noting that Iron Man 3 features scenes shot in Epic Games’ Cary, North Carolina game studio. The movie was filmed nearby in Wilmington, NC and several of War Machine’s scenes were filmed at the game developer behind Gears of War franchise for Microsoft and technologies like Unreal Engine 3 and 4. Maybe Epic could get into the Iron Man or Avengers game.

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I’m happier that they didn’t go for the money grab by creating yet another terrible movie-based game. The timelines are generally too short to develop anything but mediocre efforts and they just dilute the market.

Disney/Marvel doesn’t own the rights to deadpool he is an X-universe related character which was purchased by Fox. Fox has dropped the ball on Deadpool and his movie is in developmental hell, there is a script online in circulation for the movie they are attempting to make with an hard R rating, which is necessary but is half the problem. If Disney/Marvel decided to make a game, it should be a fighter based series, because solo titles don’t sale as much when it comes to super heroes these days!